NBRP Genome Information Upgrading Program Project's Progress

Drosophila

Focus

Genome sequencing of diverse Drosophila species

Principal Investigator

Shu Kondo Genetic Resource Center, National Institute of Genetics

Project Period

FY2014

Overview

Drosophilidae is an extremely diverse family of insets, with an estimated 10,000 species distributed all over the world.
The most famous member of this family is Drosophila melanogaster.
D. melanogaster has a short generation time and is easy to culture, making it the most powerful model system to study genetics in various fields of medical and biological sciences.
D. melanogaster was originally endemic to tropical sub-Saharan Africa, which offers a very comfortable environment for animals.
In contrast, there are species of Drosophila that have adapted to extreme environments:
Some species inhabit subarctic zones while others inhabitdessert areas.
There are also species that evolved to specialize in toxic food such as poisonous mushrooms.
Not a few of these interesting species can be cultured in the laboratory just like D. melanogaster, offering a unique opportunity to study the molecular genetics of a new biological phenomenon.
In this project, we will determine the genome sequences of 10 Drosophila species and make the data available to the research community.

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